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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Despite international calls for an end to home demolitions in East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities tore down five Palestinian homes yesterday; claiming they were built illegally. These home demolitions come after repeated calls from the UN and international community to stop settler activity and home demolitions.

The five demolitions took place early morning. Israeli authorities said the homes lacked a permit and therefore were built illegally. Palestinians claim it is nearly impossible to obtain a permit for their homes from the Israeli authorities who rule the area. Palestinians tried to repel the Israeli authorities with rocks but were summarily dispersed and the demolitions went ahead as planned.

The UN reports that 1,500 demolition orders are currently pending in Israeli courts. At least 600 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year.

Since annexing the city in 1967 Israeli authorities have authorized the demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes in an effort to create a majority Jewish population in Jerusalem. “It has been Israeli policy to try to guarantee a Jewish majority and generate Jewish hegemony in Jerusalem since 1967,” said Dr. Roby Nathanson, Director of Israel’s Macro Center for Political Economics. “Israel has annexed huge parts of Jerusalem, enlarged the boundaries of the municipality, taken lots of land in the eastern part of the city and built more than 50,000 housing units on this land exclusively for Jews.”

However, Palestinians still hope to make Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Sunderland is the new leader of the Coca Cola Championship after a 2-1 victory over Southampton on Monday night. Roy Keane’s side has been storming up the table in past weeks, having not lost since the sixth of January, a total of sixteen games. Both teams are in the hunt for promotion, with Sunderland likely to qualify automatically. Southampton on the other hand has a chance to qualify for the Premiership through the playoffs. Leon Best and Marek Saganowski were started as strikers for Southampton, while Sunderland started David Connolly and Stephen Elliott up front.

The first half was played out evenly, with Sunderland getting the better of the chances as David Connolly struck the post. Southampton started the scoring in the second half when Marek Saganowski poked home a cut back cross by Danny Guthrie. Carlos Edwards tied up the match for Sunderland ten minutes later from a high quality strike. The Trinidad international gathered the ball on the right, cut to his left, and unleashed a cannon into the top corner past keeper Bartosz Bialkowski. As the game neared its end, Sunderland scored the winner through substitute Grant Leadbitter, as his equally powerful shot was beyond Bialkowski, giving the Black Cats the three points.

With third place Birmingham City loosing in Barnsley and second place Derby County tying Coventry, first place in the league is left for the Black Cats with only five games remaining in the season. The loss leaves Southampton out of the playoff picture for the time being, but they are only one point back of sixth place Preston North End.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

The president of the Peer-Directed Projects Center, Rob Levin, has today passed away after being hit by a car whilst riding his bike on Tuesday. He is survived by his wife Debbie and his son Benjamin.

Mr. Levin was known to many as “lilo”, his favoured IRC moniker. He entered a coma after being struck by the vehicle on Tuesday. It is believed he was not wearing a cycle helmet at the time of the collision. The incident is being treated as a hit and run.

A global notice on freenode was sent:

[17:18] -christel- [Global Notice] On the 12th September Rob Levin, known to many as Freenode's lilo,was hit by a car while riding his bike. He suffered head injuries and passed away in hospital on the16th. For more information please visit #freenode-announce

His funeral will be held in Houston, Texas. He was 50 years old at the time of death.

A special e-mail address, condolences[at]freenode[dot]net, has been setup for people to send their messages to. All messages sent to this address will be published in the online “Book of Memories” and passed on to his wife and family.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House, has died at the age of 90. Mr Utzon died from a heart attack in his sleep at his home in Copenhagen.

“He had not been doing well these past few days, since Thursday. He had been undergoing a series of operations recently,” Mr Utzon’s son, Kim, told the Associated Press.

The first design for the Sydney Opera House was created by Utzon in 1957. Mr Utzon left Australia and returned to Denmark in 1966 due to disputes with the NSW government over cost blowouts and design differences. The building was finished 1973. Utzon never returned to Australia to see his building completed.

Relations between New South Wales and Utzon improved in the late 1990s and in 1999 the Sydney Opera House Trust asked for Mr Utzon to advise on changing the building’s interior to match his original design.

Mr Utzon was awarded the Pritzker prize for architecture in 2003. The selectors said the Opera House was one of the most iconic buildings of the 20th century saying that Utzon’s design “proves that the marvellous and seemingly impossible in architecture can be achieved”.

Kim Williams, chairman of the Opera House Trust, said the building would dim the lights on its sails on Sunday as a sign of respect. Mr Williams said he had met Mr Utzon at his home in Denmark recently, where they shared emotions and tears.

“We spoke for 40 minutes and when we left, he embraced me and he whispered in my ear ‘no tears’,” he said.

“He hasn’t been able to come back himself, but through his son he has been keeping up with all the developments here at the Opera House, really on a daily basis.”

Premier of NSW Nathan Rees said NSW was “deeply saddened” by the death of Mr Utzon, who gave Australia a “masterpiece” which was now UNESCO World-Heritage listed.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Mr Utzon had left an impressive legacy.

“Joern Utzon was a visionary architect whose legacy includes one of the world’s most spectacular and inspiring buildings, the Sydney Opera House,” said the Prime Minister in a statement.

“Standing proudly on the edge of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House is one of the most internationally recognised symbols of our nation.”

Monday, December 18, 2006

A state of emergency was declared Sunday for the U.S. state of Washington by governor Christine Gregoire, as additional reports of storm-related casualties surfaced. The state National Guard has been deployed to aid in distributing supplies.

Thousands were still without power in the coastal and Puget Sound regions, though most urban areas were back with power as late as Sunday afternoon, and outages were mostly contained to rural and unincorporated areas. Puget Sound Energy reported that roughly 500,000 energy customers out of the 700,000 who lost power were back in service by Sunday evening. Seattle City Light, the city’s independent municipal utility, reported only 18,000 customers still without power as of Monday morning, down from a peak of 175,000.

Four additional deaths related to the post-storm power outage had been reported as of Monday, bringing the total number of casualties to eight. A man in Gig Harbor was electrocuted by a downed power line while walking his dog. Another man in Spanaway died when an unattended candle caused a house fire.

Two died from carbon monoxide poisoning in separate incidents related to use of combustion devices indoors. Roughly a hundred additional cases of non-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning were reported from people using generators or grills indoors. News radio stations and authorities warned the public to stay away from downed power lines and not to use grills indoors. Dr. Neil Hampson at Virginia Mason’s hyperbaric unit, where a number of victims were being treated, warned it could be “the worse case of carbon monoxide poisioning in the country”.

On Monday, four new carbon-monoxide deaths were reported in a family of five in Burien due to an indoor generator. In Canada, which had some damage from the week’s storms, two southern British Columbia carbon monoxide deaths were also reported. Despite continued warnings, hospitals are still seeing cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, including a family in w:Shoreline, Washington which was taken to the hospital after they reported symptoms due to their indoor grill. Neighbors of the Burien family suggested that noise concerns are leading people to place noisy generators indoors.

The massive power outage left many stores and gas stations unable to operate. Some businesses opened with the help of backup generators, conserving power by foregoing heat and refrigeration, exterior lighting, and half the interior lighting. Most stores had run out of “D” size batteries, the most common size for flashlights, as well as firelogs and other essentials. Gasoline shortages were reported throughout the area, with one man selling excess fuel for as high as $15 per gallon, over 5 times the average retail price.

The Red Cross set up shelters throughout King and other affected counties for those without power or food. Hotels reported no vacancies as whole families took shelter in powered hotels, especially in Seattle. Restaurants also reported brisk business as people sought out a hot cooked meal. Tons of perishable food were expected to have become unsafe after the prolonged outage disabled refrigerators and freezers both in homes and stores.

Many of those without power visited nearby friends and family living where power had been continued or restored, while others traveled out of the area to places that had not been affected. The widespread outage made long-distance traveling treacherous on some major routes, with roadway lighting, cellular towers, and services disabled by the outage.

Most major roadways which were closed during the storm were reopened on Friday. The 520 Floating Bridge over Lake Washington, a major conduit to the technology-rich Eastside, sustained minor damage. Amtrak, which had halted its Cascades service, resumed Saturday evening. Sea-Tac Airport resumed operations with a reduced flight load, after a transient power outage on Friday disabled the airport radar and caused all planes to be grounded until it was repaired.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Zimbabwe has decided to abandon its currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, in favour of other currencies.

Acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced today that Zimbabweans will be allowed to make transactions in other currencies along with the local currency. “In line with the prevailing practices by the general public, [the] government is therefore allowing the use of multiple foreign currencies for business transactions alongside the Zimbabwean dollar,” he said, adding that the Zimbabwean dollar will not be removed from circulation and would be used alongside other currencies.

This decision comes during the current period of hyperinflation, which has massively devalued the Zimbabwean dollar. Banknotes up to $100 trillion have been printed, despite the removal of ten zeroes from the currency last summer to try to make transactions easier. The official inflation rate, last updated in July 2008, was 231,000,000% a year, although independent estimates place the number as high as 6.5×10¹⁰⁸, or 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion, percent.

Up to now, only vendors with licenses were legally able to accept foreign currencies, although the practice was widespread — private businesses altogether refuse to accept the unstable Zimbabwean dollar.

Large sections of the workforce, including teachers and doctors, have gone on strike because hyperinflation rapidly renders their wages worthless. Representative groups said salaries, now measured in trillions of dollars, are insufficient to pay for even the bus fare to work.

Zimbabwe also faces other crises, including a cholera epidemic that has claimed the lives of over 3,000 people, according to statistics from the World Health Organisation.

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Earth Hour 2009 takes place Saturday, March 28, 2009 between 8:30 to 9:30 pm local time when communities will participate by turning out their lights starting in New Zealand and progressing along time zones around the world.

Earth Hour began as a symbolic initiative against global warming by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). “[It is] The largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted.” Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General said.

Earth Hour began in 2007 with around 2 million participating, and increased to about 50 million in 2008. The Empire State Building, Las Vegas Strip, the Eiffel Tower, Petronas Twin Towers, the Peace Tower, the Parliament Buildings, the Christ the Redeemer statue, Acropolis of Athens, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Colosseum are some notable landmarks which will honour Earth Hour Saturday evening.

WWF organisers wished 1,000 cities would enlist in Earth Hour, however this was surpassed as this year over 2,400 have signed up to take part.

“The Government of Canada’s continued participation in Earth Hour is an indication of our commitment to being mindful consumers. As the custodian of one of the largest office building portfolios in the country, Public Works and Government Services Canada is committed to incorporating environmental practices into waste management, water conservation and the efficient use of energy in our buildings.” Christian Paradis, Minister of Public Works and Government Service said.

“Supporting Earth Hour is part of our commitment to help create a healthier environment for Canadians. Simple actions such as turning off the lights can help improve our environment and tackle climate change as well as empower Canadians to make important lifestyle changes that benefit their families and their environment. We encourage Canadians to take part in Earth Hour.” Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Yahoo!, the world’s favorite Internet destination, reported $373 million in net income for the three month period ended December 31. Revenues were $1,078 million for the fourth quarter of 2004, a 62 percent increase compared to $664 million for the same period of 2003. “We are attracting more and more users to Yahoo!’s network of services and driving their usage deeper with more relevant products and services. This deeper usage is the real magic behind the surpassing of our financial objectives,” explained Susan Decker, the company’s chief financial officer.

• Revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs (“TAC”) were $785 million for the fourth quarter of 2004, a 54 percent increase compared to $511 million for the same period of 2003
• Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2004 was $691 million, a 56 percent increase compared to $443 million for the same period of 2003
• Operating income for the fourth quarter of 2004 was $235 million, a 149 percent increase compared to $94 million for the same period of 2003
• Operating income before depreciation and amortization for the fourth quarter of 2004 was $327 million, an 84 percent increase compared to $178 million for the same period of]] 2003